William Saliba makes admission on PSG’s quality after Arsenal defeat – ‘They ate us a bit’

Arsenal lost 1-0 to Paris Saint-Germain thanks to a goal from Ousmane Dembele, but the Gunners remain confident they can overturn the deficit in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final

William Saliba admitted Arsenal struggled early on as they were ‘ate a bit’ by Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash, but he remains positive about the Gunners’ chances in the second leg.

Ousmane Dembele scored the only goal of the game after just four minutes, with his effort bouncing in off the post. Arsenal thought they had scored an equaliser in the second half, but Mikel Merino was found to be offside before he headed Declan Rice’s free-kick past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

“We struggled a lot in the first 20 minutes,” Saliba told French broadcaster Canal+, as per Get French Football News. “They ate us a bit. We did a lot of running, chasing the ball. We were better at the end of the first half.

“It’s not over. We hope to win there. We need to take the positive, we can’t give up. It’s the Champions League. A lot can happen. We’ll need to show our character.”

And Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is confident his side can turn things around at the Parc des Princes next week, insisting they are “more than capable” of making the final. “We’re at half-time,” Arteta said in his post-match press conference.

READ MORE: PSG boss Luis Enrique provides Ousmane Dembele injury update ahead of Arsenal second legREAD MORE: Mikel Arteta makes honest admission over Arsenal’s Champions League second leg at PSG

“Half-time and my message is exactly the same following us beating Real Madrid at home 3-0 – that we have to go to Paris and win the game. We are more than capable of doing it because I saw two very good teams with margins that are so small.

“They had efficiency in front of the goal and their keeper as well made a difference to see the result that we’ve seen tonight. Certainly, when you score a goal and concede one, you have to. But we did a lot of things very well as well.

“We had a spell in the first half and the game had phases. The first 15-20 minutes, especially them scoring so early in a great combination, playing when the margins as so small, the finishing is unbelievable.

“And then we had especially one issue that we corrected after 15-20 minutes and we sustained that for the rest of the game, which I think turned the game around. If you want to win the Champions League final, you have to do something special and we’re going to have to do something special in Paris to be there.”

PSG boss Luis Enrique, meanwhile, also believes the tie is still up in the air and has claimed Arsenal will have “nothing to lose” in the second leg. “We’ve reached our first objective with tonight’s result, which could have been a draw or a 2-0 win – but nobody can change the result now,” he said.

“The objective now is to win the next match, and we can’t take any chances, because with one goal suddenly the tie could be level again. We lost at home and then we went to Anfield and got the win – now we’re ahead, but Arsenal could score themselves in Paris.

“They have nothing to lose, they’re behind in the tie. It’s going to be a fascinating match for football fans, but a bit tougher on the managers.”

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